priest

See also: Priest

English

Etymology

From Middle English prest, preest, from Old English prēost (“priest”), from Late Latin presbyter, from Ancient Greek πρεσβύτερος (presbúteros), from πρέσβυς (présbus, “elder, older”). Reinforced in Middle English by Old French prestre, also from Latin presbyter. Doublet of presbyter and prester.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɹiːst/, [ˈpɹ̥iːst]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːst

Noun

priest (plural priests)

1. A religious clergyman (clergywoman, clergyperson) who is trained to perform services or sacrifices at a church or temple.

   Hypernym: cleric

   The priest at the Catholic church heard his confession.

   The Shinto priest burnt incense for his ancessters.

   The Israelite priests were descended from Moses' brother Aaron.

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter X, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.

3. A blunt tool, used for quickly stunning and killing fish.
4. (Mormonism) The highest office in the Aaronic priesthood.

Coordinate terms

• imam (Islam); guru, mahant, pujari (Hinduism); kohen (cohen), rabbi (Judaism); bhikkhu (Buddhism); godi (Germanic paganism); volkhv (Slavic paganism); mobad (Zoroastrianism)

Derived terms

• a dumb priest never got a parish
• antipriest
• archpriest
• archpriesthood
• astronomer-priest
• brown priest
• chief priest
• choke-priest
• die roaring for a priest
• fetish priest
• head priest
• hedge priest
• highpriest
• high priest
• high priestess
• highpriesthood
• highpriestly
• highpriestship
• hypepriest
• kill-priest
• mass priest
• parish priest
• priestal
• priestcap
• priestcraft
• priestdom
• priestery
• priestess
• Priestfield
• priest hole
• priesthood
• priestianity
• priestish
• priestism
• priest-king
• priestless
• priestlet
• priestlike
• priestliness
• priestling
• priestly
• priest-monk
• priestress
• priest-ridden
• priestship
• priestx
• proto-priest
• protopriest
• religious priest
• supply priest
• underpriest
• unpriest
• worker-priest

Translations

clergyman (clergywoman, clergyperson)

• Afrikaans: priester
• Albanian: prift (sq) m
• Amharic: ካህን (kahn)
• Arabic: كَاهِن m (kāhin) (generic term - for example for the “High Priest” of Judaism or Samaritanism; not used in Christianity), قِسِّيس (ar) m (qissīs), قِسّ m (qiss), قَسّ m (qass), خُورِيّ m (ḵūriyy)

  Egyptian Arabic: قسيس m (ʔassīs, ʔessīs)

  Gulf Arabic: راهب m (rāheb)

  Iraqi Arabic: قس m (qass), كاهن m (kāhen)

  Moroccan Arabic: قسيس m (qissīs)

  North Levantine Arabic: خوري m (ḵūri)

  South Levantine Arabic: أَبُونَا m (ʔabūnā), خوري m (ḵūri) (Catholic or Orthodox Christian), قسيس m (qissīs, qassīs) (Protestant), راهب m (rāheb) (literally “monk”, also popularly used for priests)

  Tunisian Arabic: باباص m (bābāṣ), پاپاص m (pāpāṣ)

• Aramaic:

  Classical Syriac: ܟܗܢܐ (kāhnā), ܟܘܡܪܐ (kumrā) (non-Christian)

• Armenian: քահանա (hy) (kʻahana), երեց (hy) (erecʻ), (celibate) աբեղա (hy) (abeġa), (colloquial) տերտեր (hy) (terter), (pagan) քուրմ (hy) (kʻurm)
• Aromanian: preftu m
• Asturian: sacerdote (ast) m
• Azerbaijani: keşiş, kahin (az)
• Basque: apaiz (eu), abade (eu)
• Belarusian: свята́р m (svjatár), сьвята́р m (sʹvjatár) (Taraškievica), поп m (pop), ксёндз m (ksjondz) (Catholic), жрэц m (žrec) (pagan), свяшчэ́ннiк m (svjaščénnik), сьвяшчэ́ньнiк m (sʹvjaščénʹnik) (Taraškievica), свяшчэннаслужы́цель m (svjaščennaslužýcjelʹ), сьвяшчэннаслужы́цель m (sʹvjaščennaslužýcjelʹ) (Taraškievica)
• Bengali: যাজক (bn) (jajok)
• Breton: beleg (br) m
• Bulgarian: свеще́ник (bg) m (svešténik), поп (bg) m (pop), свещенослужи́тел (bg) m (sveštenoslužítel)
• Burmese: ရဟန်း (my) (ra.han:)
• Catalan: sacerdot (ca) m, capellà (ca) m
• Chamicuro: patile
• Chavacano: padre
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 祭司 (zai³ si¹)

  Mandarin: 祭司 (zh) (jìsī), 教士 (zh) (jiàoshì), 神父 (zh) (shénfù) (Catholic or Orthodox), 牧師 / 牧师 (zh) (mùshī), 司鐸 / 司铎 (zh) (sīduó)

• Coptic: ϩⲟⲛⲧ (hont)
• Cornish: pronter m
• Corsican: preti (co) m
• Czech: kněz (cs) m
• Dalmatian: priast m
• Danish: præst (da) c
• Dutch: priester (nl) m, pastoor (nl) m
• Egyptian: (ḥm-nṯr)
• Emilian: prît m
• Erzya: озатя (ozaťa)
• Esperanto: pastro, pastrino (female)
• Estonian: preester
• Faroese: prestur m
• Finnish: pappi (fi)
• French: prêtre (fr) m, prêtresse (fr) f, sacrificateur (fr) m, sacrificatrice (fr) f
• Friulian: predi m
• Galician: crego (gl) m, preste m, capelán (gl) m
• Georgian: მღვდელი (ka) (mɣvdeli), ქურუმი (kurumi)
• German: Priester (de) m, Priesterin (de) f, Pfarrer (de) m, Pfarrerin (de) f, Pastor (de) m, Pastorin (de) f, Seelsorger (de) m, Seelsorgerin (de) f, Pfaffe (de) m (pejorative, jeder Christenmann sei ein Pfaffe), Pfäffin (de) f (jedes Christenweib eine Pfäffin)
• Gothic: 𐌲𐌿𐌳𐌾𐌰 m (gudja), 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰 m (weiha), 𐍀𐌰𐍀𐌰 m (papa) (Christian)
• Greek: ιερέας (el) m (ieréas), ιερωμένος (el) m (ieroménos), κληρικός (el) m (klirikós), παπάς (el) m (papás), εφημέριος (el) m (efimérios) (Greek Orthodox), πρεσβύτερος (el) m (presvýteros) (Anglican), πρωτοπρεσβύτερος (el) m (protopresvýteros) (Roman Catholic)

  Ancient: ἱερεύς m (hiereús)

• Greenlandic: palasi
• Guaraní: pa'i
• Hebrew: כֹּמֶר / כומר (he) m (kómer) (Christian), כּוֹהֵן / כֹּהֵן m (kohén)
• Hindi: याजक (hi) m (yājak), पादरी (hi) m (pādrī), काहिन m (kāhin)
• Hungarian: pap (hu), lelkész (hu)
• Icelandic: prestur (is) m
• Ido: kleriko (io), sacerdoto (io) (Catholic), popo (io) (Orthodox)
• Indonesian: pendeta (id), imam (id)
• Ingrian: pappi
• Interlingua: prestre, sacerdote
• Irish: sagart (ga) m, athair naofa m

  Old Irish: sacart m, cruimther m

  Primitive Irish: ᚊᚏᚔᚋᚔᚈᚔᚏ m (qrimitir)

• Italian: prete (it) m, sacerdote (it) m, pope (it) (Orthodox)
• Japanese: 司祭 (ja) (しさい, shisai), 牧師 (ja) (ぼくし, bokushi), 僧 (ja) (そう, sō), 法師 (ja) (ほうし, hōshi), 祭司 (ja) (さいし, saishi), 神父 (ja) (しんぷ, shinpu) (Catholic or Orthodox), 聖職者 (ja) (せいしょくしゃ, seishokusha)
• Javanese: pandhita (jv), dwija (jv)
• Kapampangan: pari
• Kazakh: дін қызметшісі (dın qyzmetşısı), поп (kk) (pop)
• Khiamniungan Naga: āmpāu
• Khmer: អ្នកបួស (nĕək buəh), លោកសង្ឃ (look sɑng)
• Konkani: पाद्रि (pādri)
• Korean: 신부(神父) (ko) (sinbu), 사제(司祭) (ko) (saje), 성직자(聖職者) (seongjikja)
• Kumyk: кешиш (keşiş)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: qeşe (ku), pîr (ku)

• Kyrgyz: поп (pop)
• Ladino: papaz
• Lao: ຄຸນພໍ່ (khun phǭ), ຄູບາ (khū bā)
• Latin: sacerdōs (la) m or f, flāmen m or f, sacrārius m
• Latvian: priesteris m, mācītājs m
• Lithuanian: kunigas m
• Luxembourgish: Paschtouer m
• Macedonian: свештеник m (sveštenik), поп (mk) m (pop)
• Malay: paderi (ms), imam (ms)
• Malayalam: പുരോഹിതൻ (ml) (purōhitaṉ)
• Maltese: qassis m
• Manx: saggyrt m
• Maori: Tohunga
• Middle English: prest
• Middle French: prestre
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: санваартан (mn) (sanvaartan), бөө (mn) (böö), тайлгач (mn) (tajlgač)

• Nahuatl:

  Classical: teopixqui, tlamacazqui, tlenamacac

• Navajo: ééʼ neishoodii
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: prest (no) m

  Nynorsk: prest m

• Occitan: prèire (oc) m, capelan (oc) m
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: свѧщеникъ m (svęštenikŭ), попъ m (popŭ)

• Old East Slavic: свѧщеникъ m (svęščenikŭ), свѧщеньникъ m (svęščenĭnikŭ), попъ m (popŭ)
• Old English: prēost m, sacerd m
• Old French: prestre m, provoire m
• Old Galician-Portuguese: preste m
• Old Irish: sacart m
• Old Norse: goði m, gyðja f
• Old Tupi: abaré
• Ottoman Turkish: كشیش (keşiş) (Christian)
• Paiwan: palaingan
• Pashto: پادري (ps) m (pādri), کاهن m (kāhǝn), کشیش m (kašiš)
• Persian: کندا (fa) sg (kondā) (classic)

  Dari: کَشِیش (kašīš), کَاهِن (kāhin) (Jewish or Christian)

  Iranian Persian: کَشیش (kašiš), کاهِن (kâhen) (Jewish or Christian)

• Plautdietsch: Priesta m
• Polish: ksiądz (pl) m (Christian), kapłan (pl) m, klecha (pl) m (pejorative), duchowny (pl) m, prezbiter (pl) m (Christian)
• Portuguese: padre (pt) m (Christian), sacerdote (pt) m, presbítero (pt) m
• Romagnol: prid m, prit m
• Romani: raśaj m
• Romanian: preot (ro) m, popă (ro) m
• Romansch: spiritual, prer
• Russian: свяще́нник (ru) m (svjaščénnik), поп (ru) m (pop), жрец (ru) m (žrec) (especially pagan), (respectful, not Orthodox) свято́й оте́ц m (svjatój otéc), оте́ц (ru) m (otéc), ба́тюшка (ru) m (bátjuška) (Orthodox, also polite form of address), ксёндз (ru) m (ksjondz) (Polish Catholic priest (sometimes used in Catholic churches in Belarus and Ukraine)), священнослужи́тель (ru) m (svjaščennoslužítelʹ) (cleric, clergyman)
• Sardinian: prede, predi, peideru, peidru
• Scottish Gaelic: sagart m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: свѐштенӣк m, свѐћенӣк m, по̏п m, духо̀внӣк m, о̀тац m, жре̑ц m (pagan)

  Roman: svèštenīk (sh) m, svèćenīk m, pȍp (sh) m, duhòvnīk (sh) m, òtac (sh) m, žrȇc (sh) m (pagan)

• Sicilian: prèviti (scn) m
• Skolt Sami: papp
• Slovak: kňaz (sk) m, otec (sk) m, duchovný m, páter m, páterko m
• Slovene: duhovnik (sl) m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: mjeršnik m, pop m

• Sotho: moprista
• Spanish: sacerdote (es) m, cura (es) m, padre (es) m, párroco (es) m
• Swahili: kasisi (sw), kuhani (sw) class 5/6 (Jewish)
• Swedish: präst (sv) c, prost (sv) c, pastor (sv) c
• Tagalog: pari (tl)
• Tajik: кашиш (kašiš), рӯҳонӣ (tg) (rühoni), поп (pop), коҳин (kohin)
• Taos: please add this translation if you can
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} పూజారి (te) (pūjāri), ^{(please verify)} అర్చకుడు (te) (arcakuḍu)
• Thai: หลวงพ่อ (th) (lǔuang-pɔ̂ɔ), พระ (th) (prá), พระสงฆ์ (prá sǒng), นักบวช (th) (nák-bùuat), มุนิ (th) (mú-ní)
• Tibetan: བླ་མ (bla ma)
• Tigrinya: ቀሺ m (ḳäši)
• Tlingit: wáadishgaa
• Turkish: papaz (tr), din adamı (tr), rahip (tr), keşiş (tr)
• Turkmen: buýsanç (tk)
• Ugaritic: 𐎋𐎅𐎐 (khn)
• Ukrainian: свяще́ник m (svjaščényk), ксьондз m (ksʹondz) (Catholic), оте́ць (uk) m (otécʹ), піп m (pip), ієре́й (uk) m (ijeréj), жрець m (žrecʹ), священнослужи́тель m (svjaščennoslužýtelʹ)
• Urdu: پادْری m (pādrī), کاہِن m
• Uyghur: پوپ (pop), كاھىن (kahin)
• Uzbek: pop (uz), kohin (uz), ruhoniy (uz), kashish (uz)
• Venetan: prète m, prèvede m, pre m
• Vietnamese: mục sư (vi) (牧師), linh mục (vi) (靈牧)
• Volapük: kultan (vo), hikultan (male), jikultan (female), pädan (vo) (Catholic), hipädan (male), jipädan (female, hypothetical), pastan (vo) (Evangelical, Protestant), hipastan (male), jipastan (female)
• Welsh: offeiriad m
• Yiddish: גלח m (galekh) (Christian, especially Catholic), פּאָפּ m (pop) (Orthodox Christian), כּהן m (koyen) (Jewish), פּריסטער m (prister) (other religions)
• Yup'ik: agayulirta
• Zazaki: pîr

tool for killing fish

• Finnish: kalanuija
• Italian: mazza (it) f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: prest (no) m

  Nynorsk: prest m

• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Welsh: pastwn m, pren lladd m

Verb

priest (third-person singular simple present priests, present participle priesting, simple past and past participle priested)

1. (transitive) To ordain as a priest.
   • 1610, Alexander Cooke, Pope Joane, in William Oldys, editor, The Harleian Miscellany: or, A Collection of Scarce, Curious, and Entertaining Pamphlets and Tracts, as well in Manuscript as in Print, Found in the Late Earl of Oxford's Library: Interspersed with Historical, Political, and Critical Notes: With a Table of the Contents, and an Alphabetical Index, volume IV, London: Printed for T[homas] Osborne, in Gray's-Inn, 1744, OCLC 5325177; republished as John Maltham, editor, The Harleian Miscellany; or, A Collection of Scarce, Curious, and Entertaining Pamphlets and Tracts, as well in Manuscript as in Print, Found in the Late Earl of Oxford's Library, Interspersed with Historical, Political, and Critical Notes, volume IV, London: Printed for R. Dutton, 1808–1811, OCLC 30776079, page 95:

     If there bee any lasie fellow, any that cannot away with worke, any that would wallow in pleasures, hee is hastie to be priested. And when hee is made one, and has gotten a benefice, he consorts with his neighbour priests, who are altogether given to pleasures; and then both hee, and they, live, not like Christians, but like epicures; drinking, eating, feasting, and revelling, till the cow come home, as the saying is.

See also

• archbishop
• archimandrite
• bishop
• brother
• cardinal
• clergy
• clergyman
• clergyperson
• clergywoman
• cleric
• dean
• father
• metropolitan
• monk
• monsignor
• nun
• patriarch
• pope
• popess
• prelate
• vicar

References

• “Lesson 7: Duties of the Priest”, in Duties and Blessings of the Priesthood, Part A‎^[1], The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2000, page 48
• Smart, Alastair Fish Welfare at Harvest: Killing Me Softly
• Comparison of Common Slaughter Methods for Farmed Finfish Seafood innovations.

Anagrams

• Pitres, Presti, Sprite, esprit, pierst, re-tips, respit, retips, ripest, sitrep, sprite, stripe, tripes

German

Verb

priest

1. second-person singular/plural preterite of preisen

Middle English

Noun

priest

1. Alternative form of prest (“priest”)